Unfair
by Zealy
Summary: Asami's father hired a trainer to teach her how to defend herself. She and her trainer are polar opposites; they begin minor spats as soon as they meet. Asami, who is usually wary of strangers, knows her rudeness is uncalled for but only grows more hostile towards the woman when she discovers that she attends the same college. As they become closer, will Asami let her defense down?
1. First Impressions

**_A/N: _****Here, time is kind of squashed— there are characters from Aang's time and from Korra's time at whatever age I decided would best help the story. Families and timeframe are kept intact, however, and most of the adults are younger than in LoK. Thanks for reading and please enjoy!**

**Chapter One: First Impressions**

"A personal trainer? Seriously?"

"Yes, Ty Lee, a personal trainer," Asami sighed around the rim of her coffee cup.

"That's stupid, I could teach you anything you needed to know," Ty Lee pouted as she slowly stirred sugar into her cup of tea.

"My father insisted that I get a _professional_," Asami rolled her eyes as she made air quotes with her fingers. "He read about some girl who was nearly kidnapped on Eighth Street but was able to beat her attacker half to death before he could shove her into his car."

"You never really go anywhere without me or Ty Lee," Mako interjected from the side, "and we're both pretty capable of defending you. No one would so much as look at you the wrong way when I'm around. Plus, I'm kind of a cop."

"Cop _in training_," Asami reminded him with a smirk before leaning in to peck him on the cheek.

"Will becoming a cop keep you from being part of the Fire Ferrets? Bolin would be super upset," Ty Lee wondered.

"We already lost Hasook and, honestly, I don't feel like trying to find someone to replace him," Mako huffed, a scowl crossing his features.

"Try. For Bolin," Asami said. The boy's expression softened as his sighed and gave a stiff nod.

"So, Asami, when do your lessons start? I wanna watch," Ty Lee grinned mischievously as she took a sip of her tea.

"This afternoon, before my first class. And you will _not_ be present."

"For class? Most likely not," Ty Lee snickered.

"You know what I meant."

The friends sipped their warm drinks in silence for a moment. Asami watched as the sun began peaking from behind the mountains surrounding Republic City, bathing the dark blue sky in a gentle orange glow. It was an extra chilly winter morning, but Asami preferred the cold to the heat anyways. Cars flew past at dizzying speeds— no matter what the time was, Republic City was abuzz with life and activity. Asami subtly wondered about life outside of the city; she'd never left before and had never really considered it. She'd read about the great deserts of the Earth Kingdom, the volcanoes that dotted the Fire Nation, the icebergs that sailed across Water Tribe seas, the abandoned temples of the Air Nomads. Great statues and architecture and exotic animals… She'd only seen a tiny fraction of what the world had to offer and Asami was filled suddenly and inexplicably with wanderlust. The world was out there, ripe and ready for exploration and discovery. She gazed once more upon the mountains and, rather than admiring the sunrise as she did before, wondered fervently what was beyond them.

She was brought back to reality as a waiter came by and set a fresh mug of coffee in front of her.

"You excited for semester two of college life?" Mako asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

Asami hummed in response, pouring creamer into her new cup.

"I'm gonna set a new shot record for myself," Ty Lee grinned.

"Ty, you said that last semester. Remember how well that went?" Mako smirked.

Asami broke into a giggle fit, eventually spouting, "You puked all over that Northern Water Tribe guy. He was so into you, too!"

Ty Lee turned bright red, as she spat, "That doesn't count! I _know_ someone spiked those drinks. I literally had only four shots!"

"You prepared them yourself."

"Someone did it during the party, duh," she grumbled, crossing her arms as she slid further into her seat. "I don't want to talk about it. Change the subject."

"What're your aspirations for this year, great Asami Sato, brilliant prodigy?" Mako inquired.

"Definitely to go to more parties. I was too worried about my classes last year and I didn't even need to. They were all so easy in the end."

Ty Lee and Mako exchanged playfully annoyed glances.

"Shut up, smart ass. Don't you have some lessons to get to soon?" Ty Lee rolled her eyes.

Asami glanced at her watch. Ten till eight. She figured she should probably be heading back home. With a sigh, she pushed her chair back, grimacing slightly at the scuffing sound the legs made against the tiled floor, and rose, grabbing her coat from the back of her seat and slipping it over her shoulders.

"Have fun in class. See you two later," she smiled as she gave Mako a quick kiss before walking around the table to wrap Ty Lee in a hug.

"Bye," her friends called in unison as she pushed the glass double doors open and moved to the parking lot.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"You're late."

"I know, I'm sorry, father. There was a wreck on First and the traffic was pretty bad," Asami explained, her head bowed slightly.

"I understand, but you've made your instructor wait nearly twenty minutes. _And_ she was here early. Be sure to apologize to her when you meet her," Hiroshi instructed sternly. "She's already in the gym."

"Yes, dad," Asami grumbled as she hung her coat on the rack and turned to the stairs.

"Punctuality is a very important trait in business leaders," Hiroshi called after her.

She shook her head as she quickly made her way up to her room and changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top before heading to the backyard towards the estate's gym. She crossed the freshly mown grassy expanse, shivering slightly as the cold nipped at her mostly bare skin, and stood before the doors to the gym. She gazed at them, suddenly feeling meek. She could somewhat defend herself but she wasn't very strong. What if her instructor thought she was some weak, prissy little rich girl? She was already late to their first session— Asami could not see this first encounter going very smoothly. She steeled her nerves, exhaled sharply, and entered the gym.

Her breathing kind of stopped.

A woman, with her back turned to Asami, was doing chin-ups as she counted quietly to herself. Asami stood, almost mesmerized, as the muscles worked and rippled beneath the woman's pale blue shirt. She hadn't even began to break a sweat, though, from her counting, she had already preformed thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty-four…

Asami flexed her arm and scowled a bit when nothing significant happened. This woman was going to laugh at her, for sure. She cleared her throat, figuring that she might as well get it over with. The woman ceased her reps with a start and jumped down from the bar. She pulled an arm across her chest as she turned to greet Asami. Now, this woman looked good from behind. From the front? Wow, Asami had never seen such beautiful blue eyes. The stranger's caramel skin was smooth and clear. Her face was framed with dark brown hair that was tied into a high pony tail and bound into two separate ties around her face. As she approached, Asami could see that she was a good couple inches taller than the trainer.

"I'm—," Asami began, but was cut off.

"Asami, I know," the stranger grinned as she extended a hand. "I'm Korra."

_Korra? That sounds kinda familiar._

"Well, I'd like to begin by apologizing for my tardiness."

"Nah, don't worry about it. It gave me time to warm up. So, where do you want to start? How much can you bench?"

Asami froze. Korra didn't care at all that she was late? Most people would've thought Asami rude.

"Uh, not much," she sputtered. "I thought you were going to teach me to fight?"

"Yeah, but first you should build some strength. More muscle means more power which means less time to take down your opponent."

_Right, should've though of that._

"Alright. You're the instructor, so, you know… instruct me," Asami grinned, waving her hands in the space before her.

Korra smiled in response and they began some stretches before moving to the equipment. Korra assisted Asami for about forty-five minutes before they decided to take a break. Asami was nearly dripping with sweat but had decided that, while it was pretty grueling and taxing, working out was nice. Relaxing, even. She took a long swig from her water bottle before turning her gaze to Korra.

"So, tell me about yourself," Asami said as she raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Me? Uh… well, I'm from the Southern Water Tribe. My dad's the chief. I don't have any siblings but I do have a polar bear-dog named Naga— she's actually somewhere in your yard right now. She's kind of my best friend."

"Southern Water Tribe? So you're a waterbender?"

Korra raised a hand to scratch her ear as she grinned sheepishly at the ground.

"Yeah, you could say that. What about you? Firebender?"

"No, I can't bend."

"Oh! Sorry, that was rude of me."

"Not really. It's alright," Asami assured her.

"Still sorry. I think you've done great for today; you blew through the exercises faster than I anticipated. We can call it quits for today and I'll see you again the day after next, yeah?"

"Sounds good to me," Asami smiled as she rose. She walked Korra to the door of the gym and out into the backyard. The waterbender stopped, raising her fingers to her mouth before letting out two short, sharp whistles. From behind her, Asami heard something big and _heavy_ hurrying in their direction. She turned to see a giant mass of white fur bounding towards them and let out a startled speak despite herself, blushing as Korra chuckled behind her and the polar bear-dog slid to a stop before them.

"This is Naga. Naga, this is Asami."

The dog bowled into Asami, knocking her down and licking her face several times before Korra was able to pry her off.

"She likes you," Korra said as she patted the dog's head.

"Shouldn't you, you know, restrain her? I don't know about the Water Tribes, but people in Republic City don't always take too kindly to having giant mutts attacking them," Asami remarked rudely as she lifted herself to her feet, wiping grass from her clothes and dog saliva from her face.

Korra's eyebrows pulled down in offense as she said, "Hey, she just got excited. It's not like she hurt you."

"Yeah, well maybe you should—" Asami stopped herself. This is not how their first encounter should end. She sighed before continuing, "Never mind. I apologize for losing my temper."

"And I apologize for Naga's behavior. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again," Korra said, patting her dog's side. "Right, girl?"

The animal gave a loud bark in response, her tail thumping wildly against the ground. Asami watched as Korra mounted the beast, waved goodbye and rode off towards the front gate, which was opened by the guards standing watch.

"I don't think we're going to get along very well," Asami murmured to herself.

"I'll say! You looked ready to skin her little bear!"

Asami cried out, startled, and turned to see Ty Lee hanging upside down from a tree branch above the gym.

"Ty Lee?! Why-what're you doing up there?" Asami demanded, her face burning red in a mixture of anger and embarrassment. That was twice in one day she'd squealed despite herself.

"Just… _hanging_ around."

"Not funny. How long have you been up there?"

"Hmm… since about five minutes before you showed up."

"_What? _How did you get here so fast?"

"Circus freak trick," Ty Lee grinned as she flipped down from the branch, sticking a landing before Asami. "So tell me about the instructor."

"There's not really much to tell," Asami groaned, massaging her temples before continuing. "She's a waterbender from the Southern Tribe and she has a stupid monster of a dog named Naga."

"Why are you so frustrated? She was really nice to you. So what if her dog knocked you over? That's just what dogs do. At least it didn't try to bite your face off."

"No, just licked it off," Asami grimaced. Ty Lee was right, though; she didn't really have a reason to be so upset.

"I was pretty sure you grew out of being rude to people you were jealous of _years_ ago," Ty Lee teased as she hopped atop a ledge and stretched.

"I am not jealous of her," Asami gritted out, arms crossed.

Ty Lee scoffed through her nose in disagreement as she folded her arms behind her head, popped one leg up on the other and began inspecting her nails.

"Sure you are. She's pretty and toned and… wait."

"Wait what?" Asami asked as she pivoted on her heel, squealing for the third time that day as she found herself unexpectedly face-to-face with Ty. The chi-blocker was studying her features intensely.

"What?" Asami repeated, somewhat annoyed.

"Your aura kinda did a flippy thing for a second. Probably nothing," Ty Lee murmured as she returned to lounging on the ledge.

"You're so weird."

"I aim to be."


	2. Everywhere

**Chapter Two: Everywhere**

Asami breathed in the crisp winter air as she climbed out of the driver's seat of her Satomobile. She pulled a few notebooks out of her vehicle and handed them to Mako, who had been riding shotgun.

"So, how was your first lesson?" Mako asked as they began crossing the parking lot to the main building of the University of Republic City.

"It was okay. We're just doing strength building exercises for now," Asami grumbled, raking her hair with her fingers.

"Oh. Should I feel threatened by the guy?" Mako asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"What guy?"

"Your instructor."

"Oh, no, she's a girl."

"…Oh."

"Yep."

They continued in silence for a moment before Asami heard a loud yelp from behind them, followed by something heavy latching onto her back.

"Heeeey Asami!" Ty Lee giggled.

"Woah!" Mako cried, nearly losing his balance as a similar load attached to his back.

"Hey, big bro!" Bolin cried as he jumped off his brother's back.

"Bolin, you're way too big to still be doing that," Mako grimaced as he placed his hands on his hips and bent backwards to stretch his back.

"You too, Ty," Asami said, trying to shake the former carny off.

"But it's so _far_," Ty Lee whined. "And you can consider this part of your training. You could really use the extra practice."

Asami rolled her eyes but looped her arms underneath Ty Lee's leg anyways. She figured the extra "weight-lifting" couldn't really hurt. By the time the group had made their way to the front doors, which were nearly flooded with other students making their way in and out, Asami was red-faced and breathing heavily. She shook her friend from her back as she took a moment to catch her breath.

"See? That wasn't so bad," Ty said as she continued onward into the building, Bolin in tow.

"I may kill her," Asami murmured, pressing her forehead against Mako's shoulder.

"Well, no harm no foul, right?"

"Shut up."

Mako laughed as he craned his head down to give his girlfriend a quick kiss before heading off to his own class. Asami turned to weave through the mass of bodies moving around the doors, eventually forcing her way inside the main building and glancing at her new schedule; her first class was engineering with a man named Iknik Varrick. She began the trek towards the science wing of the university and, realizing that she had plenty of time, took a moment to gaze at the various posters plastered against the walls, advertising classes and clubs and activities. Different cliques of kids dressed similarly with similar hair were standing idly around every corner, waiting to be shooed off by stingy professors and janitors. Very college-like.

When she finally reached the room, she stood before the door and looked from her schedule to the doorway, wondering aloud, "Varrick, huh? Like Varrick Industries?"

"The very same!" a voice announced from behind her. Asami turned to see a man in his thirties dawning dark hair, tanned skin, a thin pencil mustache and the signature blue eyes of the Water Tribes. He was wearing a blue coat lined with white fur over a blue dress shirt. The man leaned in close, studying Asami intently with a discomforting, piercing gaze.

"Aren't you a big name in innovation?" Asami coughed awkwardly, though continuing to meet the man's gaze.

"Of course I am! When I'm not inventing or touring the world or whatever, I like to donate my time to the future of our world," Varrick replied, pulling away as he began twisting the end of his mustache between his thumb and index finger. "Who might you be?"

"Asami Sato, uh, sir."

"Daughter of Hiroshi Sato, I presume?"

"Yes sir."

"Interesting. You and I are going to get along very well," Varrick grinned, throwing an arm over her shoulder and guiding her into the classroom.

The man's disregard for boundaries and boisterous disposition would have been obnoxious, were he anyone else. There was something about the way he carried himself that made Asami feel at ease, as though if there were a problem he'd figure some way out. She could even look past his touchy-feeliness.

"You've met my father, then?"

"Yes, a few times. We don't get along too well."

At this, Asami grinned; while she loved and respected her father, she had learned along the way that anyone he disliked would surely become a friend of hers.

"Take a seat with the rest of the students, Asami. Class will be beginning shortly."

"Alright, Mr. Varrick," Asami nodded as she began to climb the steps to the highest row.

"Please, call me Varrick," the man said, wiggling his eyebrows.

_He really is strange_, Asami thought as she slid into a seat. She had picked the back-most corner, a good distance away from any other students— she wanted neither distractions nor drooling college boys near her. The girl opened her notebook and set down a few pencils before propping her feet up on the desk and waiting for the classic "ease-into-the-first-day" intro to be given. She watched as the last few students began taking seats in the lecture room. The bell gave a short, three-part ding to signal the beginning of class and Varrick rose from his desk at the front of the room.

"Alright kids, my assistant is late getting here with my tea and I can't really think straight without caffeine," he announced, folding his hands behind his back. "That being said, I'd really appreciate it if you could all, you know, keep quiet for a few more minutes."

Asami shrugged. At least it wasn't a boring intro speech. She was about to turn her attention to a book when there was a sudden knock on the door. Varrick's face lit up as he quickly walked over to the door.

"It must be Zhu— you're not Zhu Li," he mumbled, his face falling as he opened the door further.

"Ah, no, I'm not. I'm Korra."

"Name's Jet. Sorry for being late, we just got lost and—"

"Whatever," Varrick interjected, heading back to his desk.

Asami's eyes widened as the blue-eyed wonder walked into the lecture room with a bag slung over her shoulder, followed closely by a dark-haired, dark-eyed young man with a sprig of wheat hanging out of his mouth. They spoke quietly to each other for a moment before the boy motioned upwards and Korra nodded in agreement.

_Oh, please don't come back here_, Asami groaned inwardly. She felt like slamming her head against the desk as the two trotted up the stairs and began shimmying down the aisle towards her. Before she could really think about it, she opened her notebook and pressed her face into the pages, pretending to scribble something down. Korra and her friend settled in, Korra right next to Asami and the boy taking Korra's left.

"I still don't think I really need to be going to college, Korra. It's not really my kinda thing," the boy murmured as soon as they were situated. Asami could hear him setting his feet up on his desk.

"I mean, why not? It's free, Jet. And it's not like we can really live off of being vigilantes our whole lives. I've already started making money as a trainer but at some point I might want a real job," Korra replied. "Besides, I think we could use some friends outside of the group."

"I guess."

They were quiet for a moment, until Korra whispered, "Who're you?"

It was clearly directed towards Asami but she pretended not to notice.

"…You alright?" Korra asked timidly. With a sigh, Asami lifted her head from her notebook and turned to glare at the waterbender.

"I'm trying to take notes," she growled at a whisper.

Korra looked taken aback, clearly confused; she realized that she was sitting next to someone she knew and knew that Asami had to have recognized her. She was no doubt wondering why the woman hadn't given her some sort of greeting upon her arrival.

_You're not that important, little waterbender._

"But there are no notes on the board," Korra finally replied.

Asami felt her face growing red as Jet snickered from the side.

"I-I… mind your own business," Asami gritted out as she crossed her arms and faced the front. They may be sitting next to her, but she didn't have to pay them any attention. She was Asami Sato, a god of sorts when it came to ignoring people.

"What's got her all in a twist?" Jet smirked, barely audible.

"If only I knew! She's one of the people I'm teaching," Korra explained so softly that Asami almost didn't hear her.

Asami tuned them out and turned her attention to Varrick, who had suddenly began bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Everyone! Class! This is my assistant, Zhu Li!" the man shouted as a woman walked into the classroom bearing a steaming to-go cup. He hooked an arm around her neck and nearly dragged her to the front of the room. "Now that she's here, we can start."

Varrick grabbed the cup, took a large gulp and handed it back to his assistant before commanding, "Zhu Li, do the thing!"

"Yes, sir," the woman nodded as she pulled down a screen and pressed a button on the wall.

The room went dark as an image from a projector flickered into life on the screen. A mover began playing, briefing on mechanical and electrical safety— nothing Asami didn't consider common sense. She rolled her eyes when she saw Korra and her friend actually paying attention to the film, Korra's blue eyes focused intensely on the screen.

Asami nearly had a panic attack when the waterbender's gaze drifted from the screen to Asami. The non-bender quickly averted her own gaze back to the mover, sure that Korra had not caught her.

_This is going to be a long class._

When Varrick's mover ended, the bell rang and Korra began gathering her things. She shoved a notebook into her backpack and started to follow Jet down the aisle when Asami all but shoved them out of her way, muttering something about "slow idiots" as she climbed down the stairs.

"Hey, a simple 'excuse me' would've been great!" Jet called after her. If Asami heard, she pretended not to notice.

"She's really a stereotypical rich girl and it irks the hell out of me," Korra growled as she slung her bag back over her shoulder and descended the stairs herself.

"How are you gonna stand training a brat?" Jet wondered, sucking on his wheat as they exited the classroom.

"I don't know, I don't want to think about it. Let's just head to the architecture room."

"Why are we taking architecture?" Jet groaned as he threw his head back dramatically.

"Look, we're just going to try a little bit of everything until we find something that we enjoy," Korra smiled before continuing. "_And_, unlike food and clothes and shelter… it's very, very free."

The two entered the classroom and settled down in the back. The classroom began to fill with students and at one point a young man with black hair and bright green eyes took a seat next to Korra. At first, she paid him no heed, merely watching cautiously out of the corner of her eye as he laid his notebook and pencils on his section of the long table. When a white snout peaked out of the collar of his shirt, however, Korra turned her full attention to the boy, her eyes wide in shock.

"What was that?!" she asked, leaning back in chair in alarm.

"What? This little guy?" the man asked, a grin creeping across his face as he pointed to the small animal whose face was now fully visible. The boy fed the creature a small cracker and patted it as it returned to the warmth of his shirt.

"Is that a fire ferret?" Korra asked, curiosity painted on her face.

"Sure is. His name is Pabu," the boy answered, pulling the collar of his shirt outwards to peek at the ferret, who poked his head out once more.

"I have a polar bear-dog named Naga," Korra grinned proudly.

"No way!" the boy exclaimed, his smile widening. "I've never seen one before. You should show it to me sometime. I'm Bolin, by the way."

"Korra," she replied as she reached to shake his hand.

"So what're you taking architecture for?" Bolin asked, folding his arms behind his head.

"I'm just trying to find what piques my interest, I guess," Korra answered.

"Me too! My brother and his girlfriend said that I needed to hurry up and choose something but, like, I don't want to do something that I don't really like, you know?"

"I know exactly what you mean."

Korra glanced over at Jet to find him talking to some Earth Kingdom girl before turning her attention back to Bolin with a grin.

"Your name sounds really familiar," Korra suddenly thought. "Have we met before or anything?"

"I don't think so. Are you a pro-bending fan?" Bolin continued proudly after Korra nodded. "I play for the Fire Ferrets."

"Get out! Seriously?"

"Yeah, me and my brother Mako! We have a guy who just quit, though, so we're out for now," Bolin explained, a scowl crossing his face.

"If you're ever looking for a replacement member, just consider me. I've always dreamed of playing for a team," Korra offered. Bolin nodded eagerly, clearly excited at the prospect of getting his team back together.

They made idle conversation for a moment, until Korra noticed with mild distaste that Asami was climbing the stairs towards them. She was surprised when Bolin waved the dark-haired girl over. So they were friends? Korra couldn't really imagine someone as friendly as Bolin being friends with someone as cold as Asami.

"Hey, Bolin. Korra, " Asami greeted them as she took a seat next to Bolin.

"Woah, you two know each other?" Bolin asked, surprised.

"Korra is my trainer," Asami said flatly.

"That means you're good at fighting! You should definitely join the Fire Ferrets. Wait, what do you bend? Water, right?"

"Yessir. I—"

"Bolin, slow down. You've only just met her," Asami interjected, crossing her arms as she glared at Korra.

"So? Your dad trusted her enough to hire her to teach you. She's clearly a good fighter and a waterbender is exactly what we need," Bolin argued.

"I don't think it's a good idea," Asami whispered. "You still need to run it by Mako."

"Asami, what's gotten into you? You're being ridiculous," Bolin murmured, his eyebrows pulling down in a shadow of a scowl.

His friend shook her head in exasperation as she turned her attention to the front.

Bolin turned to Korra with an apologetic look, murmuring, "I'm really sorry, I promise she's not usually this rude."

"It's no big deal. I'm sure she'll get over it soon," Korra smiled, her voice quiet.

Korra truly hoped that Asami would soon abandon what ever vendetta she had against her; she knew Asami couldn't be bad at all if she was close to someone like Bolin. Until then, however, Korra would have to focus on not losing her temper or saying something she'd regret. She was normally an even-tempered person but could never really hold her tongue when it came to people who were unnecessarily rude or mean, a quirk of hers that had gotten her into trouble on multiple occasions. Considering that Asami seemed to be everywhere and unwilling to give her any kind of chance, she knew that this was not going to easy. Korra allowed her gaze to drift slowly to Asami, who was hastily scribbling notes and glaring at her book as she did. Korra gave a short sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

It was going to be a very long day.

**A/N:** **Kinda long and maybe a bit boring/dry and I apologize if it is! I think there was kind of a dialogue overload in this chapter. Just let me know what you guys think and if there's anything you think I should improve on. I'm always looking to grow as a writer. Thanks again for reading!**


	3. Vigilance

**CHAPTER THREE: VIGILANCE **

Korra pulled her mask down past her chin to the base of her neck, ensuring that it was in place and would not move. It was a black, stuffy piece of fabric that wrapped entirely around her head. It lacked holes; it was thin enough that she could see and breathe through it. It was adorned with the head of a wolf pelt that descended to her shoulders, the paws tied around her neck like a necklace, giving her a fierce, intimidating look; her enemies couldn't make out even a hint of a human face in the darkness the wolf's head provided. She was clothed a thin black jacket lined with animal furs, tapered black cotton pants secured with a dark blue sash, and muffled black boots. Behind her, the Freedom Fighters were dressed similarly, though only she and Jet wore a wolf's pelt— it was symbolic of leadership, a commander in their ragtag outfit of makeshift sentinels. Korra leant around a corner and, sure that it was clear, signaled Jet. She watched as the boy tightened his grip on his twin hook swords and motioned for the Blue Ziyos, their team of fighters, to follow him down the corridor.

Their mission was relatively simple; invade the Agni Kai's hideout, steal a large portion of their stash and get out. They'd knock around a few of the gang members, should they cross them, but fighting was not a priority this time, much to Korra's disappointment— nothing gave her more satisfaction than giving a gang member the thrashing of their lifetime. They'd terrorized Republic City for far too long and the police were doing very little to loosen the gangs' tight grip on the city. By joining the Blue Ziyos, she was doing the world much more good than she was training on the compound all those years ago. She gritted her teeth at the memory as she sidled down a hallway; all of the stuffed-shirt White Lotus who thought they knew what the Avatar ought to be doing had driven her crazy. They were still looking for her— she knew for sure— but they had abandoned Republic City as a possibility. They had combed the entire city many, many times but had always turned up empty.

_They must've moved on to the Fire Kingdom by now_, Korra thought with a smirk.

She heard footsteps echoing down the hallway and pressed an arm against Jet's chest, giving him a gentle shove backwards as she tapped her nose twice to signal trouble. He nodded and retreated down the last corner with his fighters in tow. Korra tensed, prepared to strike as a hushed voice loomed into earshot.

"—I told Aki not to play Pai Sho with that stupid street kid. I can't believe he lost all that money," the voice growled, growing louder as it approached the corner Korra was pressed against.

Korra counted in her head, _Three… two… one_.

At her count, the man walked past her corner, not even noticing her. Korra rolled her eyes; this was going to be too easy. She crept silently behind the man and, once she was nearly on his heels, she leapt forward, wrapping an arm around his mouth as she dragged him to the ground. He pulled at the arm secured around his face but Korra was much stronger than he was. She bent thick blocks of ice around his ankles and wrists. His muffled shouts were silenced as Korra delivered a powerful blow to his temple, knocking him out and causing him to go limp in her grip. She bent more ice to cover his mouth and dragged him to the corner where Jet was hiding. He had already found a spot to store the unconscious body and opened the door quietly as Korra dragged the man into the room where he was quickly patted down. Jet pulled out a set of keys and wad of cash, which he handed to who Korra assumed was Longshot.

"These might come in handy," Jet murmured, jingling the keys

Korra nodded, whispering, "Just make sure they don't make too much noise. Come on."

They resumed their path down the hallway, turning several corners without coming across a single Agni Kai. When they arrived at their destination, Korra was unsurprised to see that the room was guarded by two firebenders, a man and very tall woman. The man was munching on some candy bar, while the woman had her arms crossed, her features pulled into a scowl. Korra watched as the man tried to offer the other a piece of his candy bar, only to receive and annoyed glare.

"You need to lighten up. No one is ever going to try to steal from us; why do you think the boss would only post two people to guard the stuff?" the man said around a mouthful of chocolate.

"We aren't the only two guarding, you moron. There are others posted in this hideout."

_Yeah, and we've already taken them out,_ Korra thought smugly. She nodded at Jet who waved Longshot forward and pointed at the woman. The boy leaned around the corner to assess his target before he pulled a bow from his back, taking aim at the woman's crossed arms. In a split second, he twisted around the corner, shot his arrow, and ducked back to the safety of the group. He fired with deadly precision, the arrow having embedded itself through the spot where her crossed arms touched and effectively making her unable to bend with her hands.

At the _fwip_ of the arrow and the woman's bloodcurdling cry, the man jumped with a start. He erratically shot fireballs down the hallway, calling out, "Show yourselves!"

Everything was quiet and still for a moment.

"_Go!_" Jet shouted at the Ziyos. With Korra in the lead, they charged down the hallway in a trained silence. The man kicked fire at them but Korra bent water to block it before pulling all of the remaining water from her large pouch and creating wall. Though her face was screwed up into a mixture of pain and anger, the firebending woman was using her legs to assist the man in deterring the intruders. Korra threw the water forward as she tensed and flexed her hands to turn it into solid ice, leaving air for them to breathe, and bit back a laugh as the firebenders' expressions morphed into mortification at the realization that they had lost to a team of teenagers. They gave muffled cries as Pipsqueak used his inhuman strength to push the ice blocks from in front of the door that led to the Agni Kai's stash. Jet came forward with the set of keys and tried each one, quickly finding that none of them fit the door.

"Are you kidding me?" Jet hissed, pounding his fist against the wooden barrier.

"You think they'd leave the keys here?" the woman sneered with a satisfied smirk, her voice warped through the ice.

Jet moved forward, swords drawn and ready to carve them from the ice when Korra placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I've got this," Korra said as she leant back, readying herself. She inhaled deeply as she raised her leg and exhaled sharply as she snapped it forward to strike the door. It quaked at the hit, but did not give. She kicked it several more times and watched as it began to crack before finally giving in to a hole. She reached a hand through and opened the door from the other side. The Blue Ziyos gave cries of victory and they burst into the safe room and began loading their bags with jewels and Yuans. The room was nearly cleared when they were filled.

The fighters began the trek out of the hideout, jumping and hopping gleefully at the success of their mission.

"You stupid brats aren't going to live to enjoy that cash! This is only one of our stashes— you've barely even dented our funds. What you just did was for nothing," the man shouted, laughing hysterically.

"The Agni Kais _will_ find you and we will _ruin _you, kids or not!" the woman all but shrieked, clearly angry that she was still unable to move.

"Yeah? Tell your boss to come catch the Blue Ziyos if he can," Jet called back, his voice smug as he turned to face them, trotting backwards for a couple steps before whipping around to follow his team out.

"We aren't going to let you triad scum continue to terrorize this city. _We'll _be the ones in charge. Say goodbye to your stolen money," Korra added before mockingly saluting the gang members and turning to run from the building.

At the rundown, abandoned apartment complex that the fighters called home, Korra sat in the former lobby with her feet propped up on a desk, surrounded by the friends that had become her family. Jet stood at the top of a once-grand staircase, a triumphant smile plastered on his face and a glass of some liquid in his hand. He waved for Korra to join him. With a smile, the waterbender hopped up from the desk and headed up the stairs, taking her place next to Jet and looking down at the teenagers and kids below them. The strongest and most abled were part of the fighters, while the youngest mostly stayed at the hotel, protected by both Naga and the older teens that were not directly part of the Blue Ziyos. Korra stuck her fingers in her mouth, gave a sharp, two-part whistle and watched as the kids came together at the bottom step, grins extending nearly ear to ear.

"Brothers and sisters!" Jet began, his voice loud and clear. "Tonight, the Blue Ziyos executed our first successful raid on a triad hideout."

The crowd cheered.

"From now on, we won't just attack gang members on the streets or in some alleyway at night. We're bringing the fight to them!" Korra continued, smiling at the roar of approval from her family. "We'll take back what they've stolen from this city!"

"We're keeping half of what we took from the Agni Kai hideout and giving the rest to people who are hurting for it most; shopkeepers, homeless, and so on," Jet explained. The group clapped. "Today, we're going to dine well! Eat as much as you can!"

With that, Smellerbee and Duke, who were standing near the crowd, ripped the cloth from a table to reveal an enormous spread, filled with all sorts of foods that their group could normally never afford. The kids gave yips of glee before rushing to attack the table, piling plates high with food that they probably wouldn't be able to finish. Korra watched happily as the kids dug in and conversed. They felt safe and warm, some of them for the first time in a long time. The thought made her smile.

"We did something great tonight, Jet," Korra said, hopping up to take a seat on one of the rails lining the staircase.

"I think so, too. College and real life have already gotten old, but this? I could never get tired of this," he chuckled as he sat down on the topmost step.

Duke came up the stairs, bearing plates for them both. Korra thanked him as she began digging in.

As she chewed, she thought back to when she first met Jet six years ago; he had been so angry and full of hate. The Agni Kais had killed his parents only a year before he found her at age eleven sleeping next to a dumpster, wrapped up in newspapers. He'd told her of a place he had found that the adults had abandoned, where he and some of his friends were taking care of orphaned kids. He was only eleven then, but had taken on the responsibilities that most adults ran from. Korra liked him immediately and had gone with him to the forgotten building. It was dusty back then, Korra remembered, and all they had were some cots and a few scratchy blankets. A weak fire, started by one of the firebenders, burned in the middle of the hotel lobby, crowded by several kids aged from five to ten who were bundled up in thin sheets. Korra joined them and began helping; it was her idea to barricade the front entrance and set up secret entry points elsewhere. She had proposed that they used the large utility room on the main floor for stashing cash and emergency food. She even got the earthbenders organized to build an escape tunnel in the basement, should they ever need it.

Korra quickly won Jet's favor and they became dual leaders, building plans together and making sure the kids were safe and fed. They took in any kid that had lost a family member to one of the triads, had been given up, or had just run away from home. They were now a large group of teenagers taking care of a larger group of kids and doing a damned good job, if she said so herself. She _knew _that she was doing much more good with the Blue Ziyos than she ever would have if she'd continued down the path that the White Lotus had planned for her.

Right?

Korra awoke before the sun the next morning. A warm fire was burning near her cot and the room was filled with the gentle snores of the sleeping boys and girls. She rose and stretched, yawning as she scratched her back. She thought back to the success of their raid two days prior and smiled before frowning as she remembered that they had gotten two new arrivals the day before, sixteen-year-old twins Poi and Ping. Poi was an earthbender and Ping was a nonbending street-fighter—they could definitely join the Ziyos after honing their skills and training. She was going to have to help train them, she thought with a grimace as she began heading into the kitchen. She grabbed an apple and a bottle of water as she did a quick count in her head, determining that they had eighteen teenagers (aged fourteen to eighteen) and nineteen children under their care for thirty-seven total, thirty-eight if she included herself. Of those thirty-eight, fifteen were part of the fighters, soon to be seventeen once the twins were trained. She smiled, realizing that their numbers were finally rising again. Sure, it was more mouths to feed and bodies to clothe but she knew it was no big deal if it meant one less kid scraping for food or turning to the gangs.

Korra made her way to the roof of the building, where the hidden entrance lied. She used her ice bending to form a slide to the base of the hotel before whistling for Naga, who greeted her by knocking her over. With a laugh, Korra mounted her dog and rode off to the Sato Mansion.

"Asami! _Wake up!_"

With a start, Asami jumped up from her bed, nearly blind with sleep and completely dazed.

"What? What is it?" she inquired, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She saw her father standing before her, fuming. His angry expression was almost comical; his nostrils flared and his eyes were nearly bulging, framed by eyebrows drown sharply downward. She would have laughed if his anger had not been clearly directed towards her.

"I told you an _hour_ ago to get up!" he said, his face growing redder. "You were drinking again last night, weren't you?"

"I was not! You can't take the fact that I slept in an extra hour and draw from that that I was drinking!" Asami retorted, now fully awake and glaring at her father. She really hadn't been drunk the night before, but something somewhat similar. Of course, she still wasn't going to let her father know.

Hiroshi's anger seemed to ebb a bit, his features softening and his face paling.

"You've made your trainer wait again, Asami," he sighed through gritted teeth.

Asami rolled her eyes as she rose from her plush comforters, tying her hair into a ponytail as she murmured, "She'll be fine. It's not like she has anything better to do."

"First you're falling behind on your studies, then you become lazier overall, and now you're being unnecessarily bratty. You were raised better than this, Asami," Hiroshi murmured, shaking his head as he turned and exited his daughter's room.

His words struck Asami harder than he had meant. She'd noticed herself slipping lately, noticed that she was worsening as a person. She hardly knew why. There was a kind of emptiness inside of her, which she thought was strange because she knew that she could quite literally have anything or anyone she wanted. She had considered that perhaps she was too immersed into her studies, leading her to become increasingly negligent of them. She went to more parties, partook in more questionable activities, all the while telling herself that she had everything under control. She had passed her classes but not with the straight A's that were expected of her. Her grade reports had been dappled with B's, much to her father's disapproval. She had told herself that it didn't matter. She was still in line to run a company and still more than capable of doing so.

Asami supposed that that was where her recent brattiness had begun stemming from. She realized that her future was secured and, still looking to fill that odd void within her, she spent her money frivolously, leading her to acquire a sort of "holier-than-thou" disposition.

She had become exactly the kind of person she hated most.

She combed her fingers through her hair, wiped the tears that had started forming in her eyes, and began applying her makeup. She grabbed her lipstick and had it hovering near her lips when she paused for a moment to gaze at the picture of her mother she kept tucked within the mirror frame. She looked into the woman's eyes, so similar to her own, and knew that she would be as disappointed as her father. The thought cut Asami deeply and she wiped away fresh tears, scowling as her eye makeup was smeared all over her face and arm. She let out an angry, frustrated noise as she threw down her bottle of makeup and watched the glass shatter. The black liquid burst out and quickly covered a portion of the hardwood floor. More tears fell from Asami's eyes. She stared at the makeup, watching though tired, bleary eyes as it filled the thin gaps in between the wooden planks, and considered staying in her room all day.

She fervently shook the thought from her head— she wouldn't let a fit ruin her entire day. With a sigh, she hoisted herself to her feet and returned to the mirror before opening a drawer and pulling out a new bottle of makeup.

Asami Sato was beautiful. Asami Sato was smart. Asami Sato was a prodigy. Great things were expected of Asami Sato. Asami Sato would be as brilliant as Hiroshi Sato.

Her lips pulled back, sneering at her reflection. So what if she wasn't exactly what her mother and father had imagined? She was grown up, with her own person with her own life and her own thoughts and goals and ambitions.

Right?

She glared at herself, and then at the picture of her mother.

Asami Sato could be cold, too.


End file.
